Film Industry

Culver CIty pin. Culver City Historical Society.

Many of the changes in both world politics and the motion picture industry had a large effect on the films produced in Hollywood. To the people of Culver City, "Where Hollywood Movies Are Made," the effects of these changes were equally important. Culver City was the home of three of the major studios, a number of minor studios, as well as various companies providing industry support services. By the 1930's, it was estimated that "60% of California releases were made in Culver City." According to City Historian Julie Lugo Cerra, "Movie-making offered a source of employment and generated a significant part of the revenue stream for a balanced community. Many families boasted at least one friend or relative who worked in the industry." Throughout the second World War, and the subsequent Cold War, the studios in Culver City were both effected by, and contributed to, the changes occurring globally and locally.

Friend or Foe? The Changing Image of Communism in the U.S.

The effects of the Cold War on the film industry are deeply rooted in the changing relations between the United States and the Soviet Union throughout the 20th century. As early as the October Revolution of 1917, the United States was opposed to Bolshevism - the majority branch of the Russian Socialist Democratic Party, which was led by Lenin in the establishment of the Communist Party. The U.S. was hostile to the creation of a Soviet Union and to a state ideologically based on Communism. Initially, the U.S. did not recognize the Soviet Union as a nation, and diplomatic relations were not established until 1933. Early on, the Bolshevik Revolution had created an initial "Red Scare" leading to the portrayal of Bolsheviks as being potentially "among us." Due to the belief that radicals were operating throughout the growing labor union movement, the image of both union organization and Bolsheviks were intertwined. A famous advertisement for Scot Tissue Towels from the 1930's poses the question, "Is your washroom breeding Bolsheviks?" over the menacing image of a potential convert to Bolshevik (Communist) ideology. The ad explains how cheap towels would make any worker "grumble," and how "towel service is just one of the small, but important courtesies...that help build up the goodwill of your employees."

Department of Defense Pro-Soviet poster. Source: U.S. Department of State- Office of the Historian.

​ U.S.-Soviet relations were already strained before the onset of WWII, and it seemed unlikely that this relationship would improve after Joseph Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany in 1939. With Soviet activity in Finland and Poland, the U.S. eventually issued an embargo against the USSR. However, after Nazi Germany decided to launch an invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941, there was a new possibility for an alliance. Although the war had begun in Europe in 1939, the U.S. entered the war shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, and began coordinating directly with the Soviet Union and its other allies. As part of its domestic campaign to support allied efforts, the U.S. government promoted a positive image of the Russians as allies and suppressed those images that might negatively affect the still precarious relationship between the two nations. The government even issued several films and posters depicting "Russians" as allies or friends, a message also taken up in the film industry.

With the end of WWII, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the government and Hollywood films turned their attention toward depicting the atomic bomb as a symbol of U.S. strength and the growing concern over the spread of Communism around the world. Almost immediately after the war, the government and film industry produced movies that would frame the atomic bomb and its use in Japan, shaping public opinion and politics throughout the Cold War. Without a greater evil uniting the two nations, U.S.-Soviet relations quickly dissolved into a long period of mutual distrust and conflict. As the only nation with "the bomb," the United States enthusiastically celebrated its superiority and the pre-war image of Russians/Communists resumed, as well as the concern over Communist threats from both outside and within the nation. The U.S. became gripped by McCarthyism, and particular concern grew over the Communist influence in "Hollywood."

SAG President Reagan testifying to HUAC. Reagan Library.

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which had started in the late 1930's to investigate Communist and Fascist organizations developing during the Great Depression, was given new vigor in weeding out "the Red Menace" in Hollywood films and radio. Any film showing Russia or the Soviet Union in a positive light, including those made to support the "friendly" image during WWII, were suspected of being part of a Communist agenda. As part of the HUAC trials, many in Hollywood were subpoenaed and questioned in front of Congress, and many industry leaders would offer their expertise in discussing the degree to which Communism proliferated in the Motion Picture Industry. Figures like the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) President Ronald Reagan and Walt Disney would testify that labor unions and labor disputes were a direct example of communist influence in Hollywood.

The first to be officially condemned were known as the "Hollywood 10." In October of 1947, they were found in contempt for refusing to answer the committees' questions. In response, the major studios produced the Waldorf Statement, delivered by the Motion Picture Association of America, which declared that the studios "will not knowingly employ a Communist or a member of any party or group which advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States by force or by any illegal or unconstitutional methods." The Waldorf Statement became the foundation for the first Hollywood Blacklist, whereby actors, screenwriters, directors, etc. found themselves unable to find employment. No actual "list" existed, and people rarely discussed the practice within the industry itself; however, blacklisting would continue for a number of years, affecting both those who had communist beliefs, were suspected of having communist beliefs, or who simply protested the HUAC trials in general. ​

The Hollywood 10. Courtesy of L.A. Public Library Photo Collection.

The trials themselves supported the image of a dangerous communist infiltration in the United States, reintroducing the image of the communists "among us." It was difficult to tell who might be a communist, so government films and publications attempted to inform citizens on "How to spot a communist." Prompted once again by these government agencies, the image of our former war time ally changed to became more threatening. Even before the testing of their own bomb on August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union quickly became a threat to the United States, prompting a plethora of "Red Scare films," which warned viewers not only of the Communist threat, but also of communist sympathizers, referred to as "The Fifth Column." Throughout the Cold War, and even well after, the popular WWII movie image of the evil Nazi villain was replaced by the subversive communist spy, who was part of a grand Soviet conspiracy to undermine and destroy the United States. After both sides had "the bomb," nuclear weapons in general became a symbol of both destruction and salvation in many films, depending on which side was wielding them.